Jultide Cheer
by Wordsplat
Summary: The Avengers' first Christmas as a team is spent exactly as it should be: with family. Oneshot, TonyxSteve


"Does he ever give up?"

Tony sighed, propelling the Iron Man suit through the air towards Central Park, where Loki had told them he'd be waiting. The annoying trickster's face had popped up on their TV, right in the middle of the fourth Star Wars, and announced that he'd would like a rendezvous with Tony-alone.

They weren't sure what his latest disaster of a plot was, so the authorities had cleared Central Park as best they could while the Avengers suited up. Tony now had Steve dangling in his arms, while nearby Thor carried Clint and Natasha under each arm. Bruce was back at the Tower, but they could reach him through the com if the Hulk became necessary.

Tony may be meeting Loki alone, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to have backup nearby.

"You have to admit, he's been pretty tame lately," Steve pointed out, "Maybe he's giving up?"

"Yeah, sure," Tony snorted, images of the last time Loki had paid them a visit playing in his mind, "If by tame, you mean weird."

None of them could quite figure out what the trickster's goal was. It had been almost seven months since Loki's first attempt at world domination; they'd faced him hundreds of times since, along with plenty of other supervillain wannabes. Thing was, Loki's game wasn't domination anymore. He was currently classified by SHIELD as a "disloyal extraterrestrial with an inclination towards chaos", though that was pretty much just SHIELD-lingo for "that annoying fuckhead prankster we can't manage to keep in Asgard".

In just the past week alone, he'd filled the Avengers Tower with pudding and reversed the gravity of New York. Even between Thor's Asgardian appetite, Steve's enhanced metabolism, and Clint's general ability to devour anything sugar-coated, they only managed a pathway through the pudding to the living room before Clint and Steve puked. Thor being Thor could probably have kept going, but apparently the fact that Loki's trickery had ended with Clint and Steve puking was extremely offensive to the Asgardian, and Thor wrestled Loki into submission until he agreed to magic the mess away.

Reversing the gravity of New York had been even weirder; outside everything had been normal, but inside everything had been stuck to the ceiling. Loki used up too much magic for that one though, so luckily all it took to get him to agree to undo it was Clint dangling the trickster off the edge of Stark Tower. It was the superspy's early birthday present.

The Avengers were understandably cautious when it seemed that Loki wanted to meet Tony alone. Tony dropped Steve behind some bushes, and Thor touched down with Clint and Natasha. They had a visual on Loki, and Clint trained an arrow at his forehead while Natasha aimed her guns at his kneecaps. Thor had his hammer at the ready, and Steve held his shield up like he was ready to let it fly at any moment.

Steve had been most adamant against Tony meeting Loki alone, but Tony hadn't really minded. The suit protected him from a lot of Loki's magic, and frankly, he had more in common with the trickster than he liked to admit. Daddy issues, pranks, the occasional tendency to be an asshole…in another time and place where the guy wasn't, as Bruce put it, crazy as a bag of cats, Tony could almost see them getting along.

In the end, Tony had convinced Steve that Loki hadn't shown any outright homicidal tendencies lately, and frankly, if this meeting got them closer to getting his green-clad Asgardian ass back to Asgard permanently, he'd gladly talk the sociopath down from the ledge, so to speak.

"I have a question," was Loki's greeting as Tony touched down.

"I've probably got an answer," Tony gestured to the bushes, "But if this is less about questions and more about killing me, just so you know, the spandex triplets have you in their crosshairs. Sudden movements probably aren't your best bet."

"There's no need for such hostility, Stark. I come in peace."

"…have you been watching Earth movies?"

"That's irrelevant," Loki dismissed him with a growl, hot embarrassment crossing his features for a split second before it gave way to his usual look of mild irritation, "Regardless, even if it were true, has Thor not been doing the same? If I am to be stuck in this realm, should I not accustom myself as he has? He has enough advantages as it is."

For a brief moment, Tony found himself understanding Loki more than he had ever wanted to. Loki's bitter words reminded him of old wounds of his own, the grudge he would never quite bury. He knew all too well what it felt like to always be playing catch up, to always be looking to someone else for approval, to feel as if you would never be able to measure up.

Tony loved Thor to death, of course, but…a guy like that had to cast a hell of a shadow.

"Spare me your pity, Stark," Loki snarled, clearly taking Tony's pause for sympathy.

"What pity?" Tony snorted, not missing a beat, "You drowned my Tower in pudding last week, if you're looking for pity you picked the wrong guy for a powwow."

"This is true. Lack of such pathetic emotions are in fact why I picked you for this…'powwow', as you say, in the first place," Loki acknowledged him with a nod.

"Uh, is this the part where you try and convert me to the dark side? Cause I don't know if you've seen Star Wars yet but that didn't work out so well for Vader-"

"You do blather on, don't you?" Loki sighed, cutting straight through Tony's chatter, "I have but one simple question, and I'll leave you to your business. I wish to know if Jultide festivities are celebrated in this realm."

"_That's _what you dragged me out here in the middle of A New Hopefor?" Tony exclaimed, "Not cool, man! Do you know how hard I had to fight Clint to get that instead of Mission Impossible for the billionth time?"

"For the record, I still claim that was a bad decision," Clint mumbled over the com.

"Shut up, Barton," Tony snapped.

"Radio silence," Steve agreed, sternly telling Clint, "Let Iron Man focus."

"I grow impatient, Stark," Loki said dryly, his dispassionate expression revealing nothing.

"No, we don't," Tony answered, "Is that like Asgardian Christmas? Cause Thor's going back to Asgard for that in a few days-"

"Of what does he speak, Man of Iron?" Thor interjected over the com, and the urgency in the god's voice was enough to stop Steve from speaking up about radio silence again.

"He asked about your Jultide thing," Tony shrugged in response.

Thor abandoned all pretense of hiding in the bushes, making straight for Loki and ignoring Tony completely. The other Avengers were quite to follow after, while he raised a hand to grip Loki's shoulder.

"Brother, if you wished to-"

"I wish for nothing, _brother_," Loki spat it like a swear, dodging away from Thor's touch, "I came merely to satisfy my curiosity-"

"Then satisfy it," Thor insisted, talking over Loki a shake of his head, "I need not return to Asgard. We can spend Jultide here, together-"

"Oh, yes," Loki rolled his eyes, sarcasm as evident and poisonous as ever, "I'm sure your playmates would be delighted. Or have you forgotten their loathing of me? They fear me, and why should they not? You seem to forget, dear brother, that I am nothing more than a monster-"

"Don't get me wrong, you're an annoying little shit," Clint interjected, "But you're also giving yourself way too much credit here."

"You haven't actually outright _attacked_ the city in at least half a year," Tony pointed out, "Kids are hardly trembling at the thought of finding you under their bed these days, boogeyman. You're more like their annoying uncle who pops in every once in a while to play stupid pranks."

"The children of Asgard might say differently," Loki's words were devoid of any emotion one way or the other, and his face was utterly unreadable.

"Mistakes made in the past should be left there," Thor shook his head vehemently, "I made many a mistake in my youth, but Jultide is no time to wallow in such things. Jultide is a time of joy, and it is meant to be spent with family."

"Of which, need I remind you, we are not," Loki sneered.

"Nothing so petty as blood shall stop me from claiming you as my brother," Thor was firm, "We have spent every Jultide of our past as brothers; Asgard, Midgard, with mother and father, with the Avengers, circumstances matter not."

"Do you truly wish to spend Jultide alone?"

Though Loki's response was a rapid, insistent "Of course I do!", not even Tony could pretend not to see the clear _no _in Loki's eyes.

"It matters not," Loki huffed, clearly trying to maintain a higher ground, "Your playmates would never agree to such a thing."

Steve stepped forward then, squaring his shoulders, and…oh no. Tony knew that look. That was the Steve-Rogers-kicked-puppy look. That was the everything-in-this-future-is-sad-but-I-am-determined-to-fix-it look. That was holy-shit-this-fucker-is-going-to-invite-Loki-to-Christmas look.

"Steve," Tony warned.

Steve glanced at Tony; then at Loki, then at Thor, then back to Tony.

"Steve…"

"Loki," Steve steeled himself, ignoring Tony and turning to Loki, "I think-"

"Steve, no, that's the dark side, come back-"

"-that you should join-"

"_Steve, no-_"

"-us for Christmas."

"Well," Loki drawled, "I suppose if I must."

"_What have you done?" _Tony groaned, while Thor enveloped Loki in a huge bear hug. Loki squirmed and protested and eventually wiggled out of it, but the light never left Thor's eyes.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Steve just rolled his eyes, "Look at how happy we've made Thor."

"Steve," Tony took Steve by the shoulders, "You invited a supervillain. To Avengers headquarters. _For Christmas."_

"It's only for a week and a half," Steve just shrugged him off, patting him on the shoulder in a way that was not even remotely reassuring.

"Talk about in-laws," Clint snorted, "Jane's in for a hell of a Christmas."

"I think we all are," Natasha sighed.

* * *

It's not that Tony hates Christmas.

Really, he doesn't.

He just doesn't _love _it. At least, he doesn't love it the way his crazy teammates seem to. Thor had jumped right in, insisting they complete every tradition known to man, and dragged Loki right along with him. Steve was just as enthusiastic and sentimental about Christmas as one would expect from the all-American boyscout. Bruce and Natasha were quieter about it, but they too were invested in the season, and Clint went gaga over all the shiny things and extra sugar the holidays produced. Tony had expected Coulson to be in his not-quite-as-enthused corner, but even the stoic agent seemed to be in a better mood lately.

They had a week left til the big day, and they had a huge Christmas party planned for Christmas Eve. Pepper was coming over almost every day now to help decorate and prepare, and Jane and Darcy had flown in yesterday. They were staying at the Tower, and though Rhodey had gotten leave, he'd insisted on staying in a hotel, something about too much Stark and not enough space would drive him up the wall long before the endless Christmas music did.

Sure, Tony was all for throwing a Christmas party. He wasn't the Scrooge magazines made him out to be, either; his employees always got Christmas week off with pay, and he always made sure to get Pep and Rhodey and Happy something nice. Lord knew he was all for buying people presents. Hell, buying people shit was Tony's specialty. He had plenty of practice over the years, substituting it for things like emotions and apologies, so doing it when he was supposed to was a walk in the park.

Thing was, Tony never actually had a "real" Christmas. He'd gone to Christmas balls and fundraisers over the years, but as a kid all Christmas meant was one more day of the year his father locked himself in his office and his mother was halfway around the world and both forgot they had a son who might not have yet killed the hope that they might at least call.

But this…this was different than any other Christmas Tony had ever experienced.

A few days after Loki had come to stay with them in the Tower, Steve had started in with the whole 'we should try and make this special, it clearly means a lot to Thor' blah blah blah that Tony would have tuned right out had he not seen how much it clearly meant to Steve, as well.

Which got Tony thinking about how this was Steve's first Christmas in the future, and how Christmas was all about loved ones, and how many loved ones Steve must have lost. That train of thought got him feeling guilty, so between the guilt and Steve's killer puppy dog face, Tony had given in and thrown himself into the whole 'Christmas spirit' shtick.

They'd gone out and gotten a tree first. Thor had been over the moon about it, bouncing in his seat the whole way there, until they got to the tree lot and he realized how short Midgardian Christmas trees were. Apparently Jultide trees were the size of houses or something, which led to Tony musing about different ways he grow a mutant tree before Steve insisted that there was to be no experimenting with their Christmas tree.

They eventually found one, and now they were sitting around in their combined rec room and kitchen, decorating. Jane and Thor were on the floor stringing popcorn for the tree, while Clint pretended to help but really threw popcorn at Darcy, who was halfway across the room and catching them in her mouth.

Pepper and Natasha were hanging the ornaments on the tree; no one else was allowed to after what would later be labeled the Great Ornament Debacle of 2012. Tony and Loki had been hanging ornaments, until they started bickering over something. This led to Steve trying to intervene, which led to Thor trying to back Loki up, which led to Clint jumping in, and before anyone knew it ornaments were flying and it all went south.

It ended with Pepper and Natasha declaring men "stupid and incompetent", and they were now hanging the ornaments themselves and swapping respective horror stories about Tony and Clint.

Bruce was in the kitchen with Loki, baking his fifth and-between Clint, Darcy, and Coulson, who had a surprisingly strong sweet tooth-probably not his last batch of the world's best snickerdoodles. Loki had surprised everyone by getting along best with Bruce; they weren't quite friends, but they had a strange companionship thing going on. They didn't talk about much of anything, but after the first day-which had been awkward for absolutely everyone but Thor, who had been obliviously happy-they were comfortable around each other. Loki turned out to be a voracious reader, and they were often found reading together, or swapping book recommendations.

Tony was on light-hanging duty with Rhodey, which would be fun once he got to the actual electrical engineering part; for now, however, they were stuck sitting on the floor, untangling the obscene amount of Christmas lights Steve had dug up from god-knows-where in Tony's basement.

"Seriously, is there a reason we can't just hire people for this?" Tony whined to Steve, who was handwriting invitations to the Christmas party at the kitchen table with Coulson.

"Because it's Christmas," Steve just told him, humming along to the obnoxious Christmas carol that was playing over the speakers.

"Y'know, before all this Avengers bullshit, there was nobody running around telling me what to do all the time," Tony complained, then, in a mimicry of Steve's voice complete with exaggerated faces, "'You have help decorate, Tony', 'untangle these lights, Tony', 'because it's Christmas, Tony'."

"Please," Rhodey snorted next to him, "Telling you what to do was in Pepper's job description long before you ever suited up."

"Okay, fine, but at least I could fire her. I have to live with Captain Bossypants over there," Tony grunted.

"And how do you think firing me would work out for you, exactly?" Pepper shot him a smirk.

"My social security number's still five, right?" Tony gave a cheeky grin.

"Man, you're hopeless," Rhodey shook his head.

Tony was distracted from delivering what would have totally been an amazingly wit-tacular comeback by the sudden appearance of a green sprig popping existence over his and Rhodey's heads.

"No magic in my Tower!" Tony whipped around to glare at Loki.

"I know not of what you speak," Loki hummed innocently as he mixed the cookie dough, "But such a plant has a tradition, does it not?"

"Mwah!" Tony reached out to grab Rhodey, who was too quick.

"Nice try, Tones," Rhodey laughed, ducking out of Tony's reach and holding him back by shoving a hand in Tony's face.

"Ruuude," Tony complained, tackling Rhodey, "C'mon, where's your holiday spirit?"

"Question!" Darcy raised a hand, "Is that gonna be popping up everywhere? A girl's gotta be prepared."

"I know nothing," Loki shrugged noncommittally, but his smirk said otherwise.

"You've got to teach me this magic stuff," Darcy grinned, and Tony paused in his wrestling with Rhodey to point a finger at her.

"No! No magic in my Tower, you! You either, Frosty!"

"Aw, but it'll be good bonding!" Darcy pouted.

"You desire to bond with me?" Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds kinky," Clint snorted.

"As your future sister-in-law, I think we-"

"Darcy," Jane protested with a blush, "Don't assume things like that. Besides, we're not even sisters."

"But it takes too long to say unofficial-sister-through-friendship-in-law."

"Yeah, I'd stick with sister-in-law," Clint advised. Jane shot him a look.

"Stark?" Loki questioned from the kitchen. Tony managed give Rhodey a sloppy kiss on the cheek, then poked his head up.

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask of you; how does 'tumblr' work?"

"God damn it," Tony groaned, "Alright, who let him use their laptop?"

"I thought he might get more use of it than I," Thor admitted, "The keys are far too small for me."

"Thor, you're killing me," Tony sighed.

"There is something called 'Loki's army' on this website, this 'tumblr'," Loki continued his explanation, ignoring Tony's outburst, "I must know, do they truly wish to fight for me?"

Tony blinked, then, upon getting it, laughed until he was blue in the face.

"My patience runs thin, Stark," Loki snapped.

"Your so-called 'army'," Tony said between laughs, "Is, is a bunch of lovestruck teenage girls-"

"Teenage…females?" Loki tried and failed to hide his surprise.

"Oh god, this is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Is this my Christmas gift? This is my Christmas gift, isn't it? Seriously, merry Christmas, and a happy fucking New Year. Hell, you want to enlist a bunch of teenyboppers as your army, you go right ahead. All I have to do is stick my hand down Steve's pants and-"

"What?!" Steve exclaimed, while Clint and Darcy burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"That, or get Captain Muscles over there topless," Darcy waggled her eyebrows at Steve suggestively, "Or Thor. Or any of you, frankly. Saving the world's gotta be one hell of a workout."

"But why would-how would that-what are you _talking about?" _Steve blurted.

"Tumblr is a website for people to fan over things," Bruce explained.

"Mostly how gorgeous we all are," Clint winked.

"I'm shipping that like it's Fedex," Darcy declared with a glance between them. Everyone but Clint looked mildly confused.

"I like your shoelaces, Darce," Clint hummed, a sneaky grin growing on his face.

"Thanks, I stole em from the president," Darcy grinned back.

"Weirdest ships you actually kind of can't help but see happening in strange alternate universes, go," Clint challenged.

"Thorki," Darcy snickered.

"That's not that weird, you clearly haven't been around for all 'hugs of brotherly love' this week," Clint rolled his eyes, "Iron Widow."

"She'd strangle him with her thighs if he looked at her wrong," Darcy snorted, "Capsicoul."

"Coulson would die happy," Clint agreed, "Cyberhusbands."

"Agreed, I could totally see Tony being that narcisstic," Darcy laughed, "Shieldhusbands."

"Low blow, Tasertricks."

"Frosthawk."

"Electric Green."

"Ironhawk."

Shieldshock."

"Thunderhawk."

"Personally, I'm seeing Hawktaser at the moment," Natasha interjected calmly. Everyone was surprised and still completely confused, except for Clint and Darcy, who turned to Natasha with owlish eyes, "But for the sake of Christmas peace, I'm sure you can both call a truce for Superhusbands?"

Clint turned to Darcy.

"Superhusbands?"

"Superhusbands," Darcy agreed enthusiastically.

"Fuck yeah," Clint grinned, "The unresolved sexual tension is _stifling._"

"What're you thinking, like a month before they get their heads out of their asses?"

"Maybe more. They're kind of thick sometimes."

"Okay, for once, I don't think I'm alone when I say I have no idea what you two are talking about," Steve admitted at last.

"My money's on less than two weeks," Natasha interjected again, without even looking away from the tree.

"Agreed," Pepper nodded her approval.

"Who _are _you?" Tony stared at Pepper.

"Is this like a google thing?" Steve tried to work it out.

"Do _not _google it," Rhodey advised with a shudder, "Or anything involving Tony at all, ever. Last time I did, it took a good ten years off my life."

"Perhaps you should google the term 'frostiron' instead," Loki suggested innocently.

"Frostiron?" Steve blinked, confused and all too naïve.

At that, Clint and Darcy absolutely broke down laughing.

"Okay, first," Tony pressed a hand to the bridge of his nose "No. Just…_no._ Second, don't ever say that again. Third, have I puked yet? I feel like I should be puking right now."

"Calm yourself, Stark, it was but a joke," Loki shot him a look all but dripping with disdain, "As if mortal such as yourself could hold any interest for me. Eh, I understand not the strange fathoms of their minds. Regardless, your relationship with Rogers is nauseatingly obvious."

There was a collective pause.

"…what?"

"Me?" Steve blinked.

"Clint, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Darcy asked, not taking her eyes off Loki. Clint glanced between them, a devious smirk growing.

"Oh _hell _yes," Clint abandoned the popcorn stringing altogether, and he and Darcy each grabbed one of Loki's arm, hauling him out into the hallway to talk.

Tony looked at Steve. Steve looked at Tony.

"Loki's deranged," Tony declared, ignoring the blush creeping up the back of his neck, and the twist in his gut when Steve's eyes looked almost hurt.

"Yep," Steve agreed quietly, hastily refocusing his attention on the invitations.

"I'm so far out of this conversational loop I'm not even sure this is English anymore," Bruce sighed as he rolled out the cookie dough.

"I find it's often best to ignore them completely," Coulson advised Bruce, "Otherwise one might get brain damage from exposure to their stupidity."

* * *

"I am _not _wearing that," Tony glared at the offending sweater, a hideous, red and gold catastrophe complete with blinking robot that might have been Iron Man, though it was sort of mangled and entirely impossible to tell.

"Yes, you are," Pepper didn't bat an eyelash, "Sign here, here, and here."

"No, I'm not," Tony insisted, pausing in his work long enough to sign where Pepper pointed. He didn't bother to read it; if she wanted to destroy his life or sign his soul away or whatever, she could have done it years ago. He'd long since stopped reading the things Pepper shoved in front of him, "That is the single ugliest piece of clothing I've ever seen in my life. And I live with a man who dresses like it's the forties."

"It's for the Christmas card," Pepper took the papers from him, folding the sweater down next to him on the workbench.

"How about I wear a thousand dollar three-piece suit for the Christmas card, maybe look like the wealthy businessman I am?"

"It'll make Steve happy," Pepper just told him, patting him on the shoulder.

"And what do I care about that?" Tony huffed.

"Tony, you've spent the last day and a half hiding out in the lab because you're afraid he's upset with you. You can't tell me you don't care."

"I've been busy," Tony tried to protest, but he caved under Pepper's knowing look, "Okay, so maybe I feel the teensiest bit guilty. Whatever, guilt sure as hell isn't enough to make me wear that…atrocity."

He couldn't get that stupid, hurt look out of his mind. He hadn't meant to insult Steve, really. He just hadn't wanted Steve to get too suspicious of his feelings, is all. Okay, so maybe 'deranged' had been a tad harsh.

"Fine, Tony," Pepper just gave him a knowing little smirk, "You don't want to wear it? That's fine. But _you _get to tell Steve that you think the sweater he knit you is an atrocity."

"Fine, I wi-what? Who the fuck taught Captain America how to knit?"

"Jane did," Pepper shrugged, "She's teaching Steve and Loki."

"…_Loki?"_

"Yes, Loki."

"_Evil Asgardian Loki?"_

"I don't think I'd quite use the word evil anymore," Pepper mused, "He can be rather insightful, actually, when he's not busy playing pranks."

"Captain America and Loki the god of mischief are sitting around, _knitting _together?"

"They been getting along quite well, actually-"

"Move," Tony stood abruptly, making for the door.

"Tony," Pepper sighed, "You can't get jealous every time someone talks to Steve."

"Nope," Tony interjected, "This has nothing to do with jealousy and everything to do with Loki being an evil, stealing bastard."

"And what's he stealing from you, exactly? You haven't even told Steve how you feel-"

"Feelings," Tony made a face, "What feelings? There's no _feelings, _don't be silly, Pep."

"I've thought so for a while, but Rhodey says you have it worse than he's ever seen," Pepper crossed her arms, "Worse than with me, and according to Rhodey, that's a hell of a thing."

In a moment, Tony was flooded with guilt. He and Pepper had broken it off months ago, right after the Avengers got off the ground really, when their relationship became more stress and strain than was healthy for either of them. They'd had good reasons to try a relationship, and they'd had good reasons to end it; from start to finish, they'd kept it an altogether amicable thing. Tony gave himself a weekend bender and Pepper gave herself a week in the tropics and in the end, they both found they were okay, and their friendship was better off for it.

Still, it didn't mean Pepper would want to deal with Tony lusting over some guy, especially if 'some guy' was Steve Rogers.

"Shit, Pep, really, I didn't mean to-"

"No," she raised a hand, "It's a hell of a good thing. I'm not bitter or jealous, I'm concerned you're going to ruin this for yourself before you even start."

"What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"It means I know you, Tony. You tried to stop us from happening a thousand times, and I'm willing to bet you're doing the same thing with Steve now."

"Pepper, you were my one good thing," Tony couldn't quite bring himself to look her in the eyes, "And I'm not saying that I was the one that ruined us, because I know we've had this conversation a thousand times and we just don't work, but…you're amazing. Christ, Pep, you're perfect, you have to know that. I've told you that, right?"

"Every once in a while," Pepper gave a soft smile.

"And I mean it, I do. You're perfect, and we still didn't work. I don't…I'm not good with…" Tony made a vague hand gesture, "People. Relationships. Good things. I work too much and I'm kind of an asshole and I forget dates and anniversaries and allergies. You said it yourself, being with me is like looking after a child-"

"Tony, we were both angry that night, we said some things-"

"But it's a _true _thing, Pep," Tony insisted, "I'm clingy and whiny and it takes bodily force to get me to go to bed. I eat nothing but sugar and coffee, and I don't mean to, but I let people down. And that's all a relationship with Steve would be; me letting him down, over and over until we gave up and cut our losses. Maybe we'd be friends after it, maybe we wouldn't, but…I don't want to risk that. I can't."

"Tony, you're not being fair to yourself," Pepper shook her head, "Or to Steve, for that matter. Every time I've come down here for the past half a year, Steve's been in here. And sure, he's been bringing you food and hauling your butt out at the 48 hour mark, but I haven't heard him complaining. Certainly, no one asked him to. Tony…he really does care about y-"

"Not talking about this anymore, la la la-" Tony hastily moved away from her, singing with his hands over his ears.

"Now you're just being ridiculous-" Pepper chastised, chasing after him.

"What was that Pep? Can't hear you, la la la-"

"Uh…do I even want to know what's going on right now?" Steve had entered without either of them noticing, and he stood in the doorway, one eyebrow raised.

"Hey Steve, wanna hear a joke?"

Tony was speaking to Steve, but he was looking right at Pepper with a devious smirk that Steve knew could only mean trouble. Before he could even open his mouth to stop him however, Pepper shot Tony the dirtiest glare Steve had ever seen from anyone: man, woman, skrull…_anyone_. A look like that could peel wallpaper. Heck, a look like that could kill someone.

"_Tony,_" Pepper warned in a voice sharper than any of Natasha's knives.

"What's a nosey Pepper do?" Tony just hummed, clearly suicidal.

"Anthony Edward Stark so help me God if you say one more word-"

"Get Jalapeño business."

"Fine, be an idiot. Ruin your whole damn life, see if I care. I quit, you hear me, Tony? I quit! For good this time!"

With that, Pepper was out the door and up the stairs, heels angrily clicking against the tile like gunfire. Tony turned to Steve with a shit-eating grin.

"It's my ace in the hole; works every time. Pisses her off more than 99% of my other shit. She'll be gone for a week or so, but she'll probably come back in time to slap me at the Christmas party."

Steve looked alarmed.

"Kidding!" Tony assured, then reconsidered, "Well. Actually. No, not really. She did it at my birthday party a couple years ago, I don't think Christmas will stop her."

"…this is the part where I ask why you drove her away, right?"

"Usually."

"You know what? Come to think of it, I'm not even sure I _want _to know," Steve chuckled, a fond smile gracing his lips.

"Good, it's a long story," Tony sighed, leaning against the worktable, "So what's up, Spangles?"

"I came to get you for dinne-oh, you got the sweater, good," Steve noticed the sweater, folded on the corner of Tony's worktable, and visibly brightened. Tony just winced.

"You…made this?" Tony asked, eyeing the thing out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah," Steve smiled proudly, "Jane's showing me and Loki how. Between the three of us and Natasha-she's surprisingly fast with those needles-we've got sweaters for almost everyone now. We're going to take the picture tomorrow at Rockefeller Center."

"We're..." Tony was particularly proud of the fact that he was able to hold back from saying _wearing those in public_, and instead substituted, "Going to Rockefeller Center for the picture?"

"I thought it'd be nice," Steve gave an embarrassed sort of shrug, "I haven't seen it since the forties."

When he said it like that, all embarrassed shrugs and light blushes and shy smiles, who the hell was Tony to say no?

* * *

He wasn't jealous.

Really.

He was just…being ignored. By Steve. And he didn't like it. That wasn't _jealousy. _It wasn't like he wanted to shove Loki off the couch and take his place next to Steve or anything. Of course not. That would be stupid.

It was getting late, almost ten. After their picture at Rockefeller Center earlier that afternoon, they'd finished the last of the Christmas decorations and played board games until Coulson finished kicking their collective asses. He and Natasha had now wandered off somewhere-presumably to kill someone or something-Pepper was still off being pissed at Tony elsewhere, Rhodey had returned to his hotel for the night, and Bruce was reading in his room. Thor and Jane were on the couch opposite Tony, Clint and Darcy were on the floor as close to the screen as they could get, and Steve and Loki were knitting on the center couch. Tony was pretending to watch Die Hard with the others, but in reality he was mainly staring at Steve and Loki.

Loki, who continued to scoot closer and closer to an unsuspecting Steve; one more inch, and Tony swore he was going to go over there and wedge between them himself.

For Steve's sake, of course.

"Hey, Steve, I-"

"Shh!" Clint hissed.

"Shut up, Legolas, I wasn't talking to you-"

"Tony, they're trying to watch the movie," Steve shushed him too, gesturing to Clint and Darcy.

"But I-"

"Stark, so help me, I will break your kneecaps," Clint warned.

"Fine, whatever," Tony held up his hands in surrender, shooting Steve a dirty look, who just chuckled.

This was getting ridiculous.

Tony had spent the day watching with increased frustration as _Loki, _of all people, sidled up to Steve. Hell, the trickster was all but fall-into-his-lap flirting with him, not that Steve had noticed. Tony had done his best to run interference-because that's what friends did, they protected each other from lecherous alien weirdos-but it had become increasingly difficult separating Steve and his new buddy.

Who Tony _knew _was behind the crazy, random mistletoe that kept popping up everywhere, along with the stupid Christmas carols that came on whenever Tony walked into the room. Steve had found it hilarious; apparently, Steve suddenly found a lot of Loki's jokes hilarious.

It didn't help that anyone he complained to about the problem did nothing but laugh at or insult him. Rhodey had called him a dipshit, Natasha called him an idiot, and Clint had gone with asswaffle. Bruce had suggested he explore why he might feel so upset about it-as if getting in touch with his emotions had ever helped anything-and Darcy had just said he was too pretty to be this obtuse.

Thor had only patted him heartily on the back, going on for a solid ten minutes about how happy he was that the Captain and his brother had been able to put aside their differences for the sake of Jultide friendship, until Tony managed to slip out of the god's reach and duck away.

Christmas or no Christmas, Tony was not in a good mood.

The movie ended, and before anyone could move, a sprig of mistletoe popped into existence above Steve and Loki's head.

Steve looked startled, Loki look smug, and Tony looked downright murderous.

"Oh, come _on," _Tony complained crossing the room in a second to haul Steve up and away by his arm, "C'mere, Spangles. You and I need to talk."

"Tony?" Steve raised an eyebrow, but allowed himself to be dragged out into the hall.

"Supervillain. Evil. Magic-y. Alien. Tendency to be an asshole. Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Loki's not that bad," Steve tried and failed not to look amused.

"How did I become the only sane person around here?" Tony groaned.

"He's just lonely, Tony," Steve said gently, "Did you know that this is his first…Christmas, Jultide, whatever you want to call it, since he found out he was adopted?"

"Oh, great, so what, you guys are swapping life stories now?"

"No, I've been talking to Thor," Steve explained, "Thor says Loki's been more like himself in these past few days than in all the months since he left Asgard. Maybe…"

"Do _not _say maybe Loki just needs a hug. I swear, I will hit you, Rogers. God knows it'll break every bone in my hand, but I will hit you."

"Not a hug," Steve flushed, shifting uncomfortably, "But…a family, maybe."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but we're all sort of lacking in that department," Tony pointed out, "Hell, I can't remember a single Christmas my parents even called, but you don't see me trying to take over Manha-what, what's that look for? I just-"

"Tony," Steve's voice, raw and choked and hurt is like a knife right to the gut.

"It's really not a big deal," Tony squirmed, suddenly uncomfortable with the way Steve was looking at him, "That wasn't actually my point, I was trying to-"

"_Tony._"

And then suddenly Steve was hugging him, big arms and muscles enveloping Tony to his chest like he was precious cargo or something. Tony didn't get much of a chance to protest or complain or even just enjoy the feel of Steve's gorgeous muscles-well, okay, yes, he sure as hell managed to enjoy that-but Steve was gripping him kind of tightly and he was already talking before Tony could wheeze in protest.

"I know your father wasn't the same man I knew and I know you hate it when I talk about him so I try not to but I just have to say once that I swear I'd hit him right in the nose if I ever got the chance for what he did to you because it's wrong, Tony, it's wrong and you didn't deserve that, you deserved the best, you deserve people who care about you, and I know you don't believe that, but it's true."

"Air," Tony gasped at the first pause in Steve's speech, because, really, that was a very heartfelt speech and all, but he was pretty sure he was about to crack a rib.

"Oh," Steve released him, instantly looking ashamed, "Sorry. Did I…?"

"I'm fine," Tony waved him off, "Just…knocked the wind out of me…a bit, is all."

"Sorry," Steve bit his lip, but seemed determined to continue, "I just, we're a family. We're a…strange combination, sure, but we live together and we fight together and we're more friends, more than a team."

"You know what they say, family's who you're stuck with; god knows I can't get Clint to move out for the life of me, so I guess you're right," Tony joked, half-heartedly attempting to dodge away from the heavy topic.

"This…this is all I have, here," Steve fidgeted, and Tony managed to recognize that now was a good time to maybe shut it with the jokes, "I had nothing when I woke up. Even though I'm the one who outlived them, I still felt…abandoned. Alone. We fought a bit at first, but you won me over with all your fast-talking sarcasm and dry wit and crazy intelligence and I thought, maybe we could be friends. Then you let us all move in here, and I really got to know the team, and…I couldn't imagine my life without them. Without you."

It was of course, at that exact moment, that a sprig of mistletoe popped into existence above their heads.

"Uh."

"Oh," Steve stammered, "That's-Loki's been making them everywhere, they pop up constantly. You don't…I mean, we don't have to, Bruce and Coulson just ignore them, and Natasha kicked Clint in the nuts when he tried-"

Steve was still stuttering and blushing, but Tony knew a once in a lifetime shot when he saw one. He grabbed Steve by the collar and-

The lights went out. Tony felt Steve slip out of his grasp, and he reflexively reached forward again, to try and pull Steve back. Shit. Shit shit shit. Okay, maybe he'd been a little forward, but hey, he could always claim Christmas spirit, right? He leaned in again, one last shot in the dark-

And then it wasn't dark. The lights were up, and Tony was a brief pause from locking lips with Natasha, who instead kneed him in the groin. Tony sunk to the floor, and Loki popped out with a taunting grin.

"Loki'd!"

"Fucking hell…" Tony groaned, "'m gonna kill you one of these days, you bastard, I swear it…and seriously, Natasha, was that necessary?"

"Reflexes," Natasha shrugged, not looking even remotely apologetic.

"Loki?" Steve came out from around the corner where Loki had teleported him, his face an unreadable mixture of a number of things, "What did you do to him?"

Frustration and confusion were pretty prevalent, and it seemed to be directed at Loki, so that was a plus. Unfortunately, Tony was a bit too distracted by the pain to quite catch the disappointment that had flashed across Steve's features.

* * *

Tony managed to avoid Steve right up to, and during the beginning of, the Christmas party.

Hundreds of people were in the Tower, most of them important people Tony should know the names of but didn't, plenty of celebrities, and a handful of actual friends. Most of the Avengers were flitting around, doing their bit to socialize, while Bruce had taken his leave, since crowds still made him nervous; it was a I-could-Hulk-out-and-kill-people thing, Bruce had a couple of those. The public party went until midnight, then the unofficial, "family" party, as Steve had dubbed it, began.

It was only around five or so, still ridiculously early, and Tony had managed to avoid Steve's attempts to get him alone at every turn. He didn't want to talk about what he'd almost done, though Steve seemed annoyingly intent on it. There was really just about no way the man _hadn't _seen Tony going for the kiss, considering he'd grabbed Steve by the shirt before Loki'd teleported him away. Meaning, there was just about no way Steve hadn't come to the annoyingly unavoidable, embarrassingly obvious conclusion that Tony had _feelings _for him, as Pepper would put it.

Feelings like happiness and home and security and all those other warm, mushy things. Things normal people might even consider some weird, Tony Stark version of love. Which was ridiculous, of course, because Tony didn't do things like "love" and "attachment" and "real relationships that work out". People like Tony didn't just get things like happiness, or get to be with people so inherently _good _as Steve; he didn't deserve it, and even if he did, he'd just manage to fuck it all up anyway.

The worst part of it was that Tony knew, absolutely _knew_ Steve would make him happier than he'd ever been. Steve was…everything. Sure, he was Tony's confident, responsible leader, Captain America, but he was also Tony's sweet, dorky best friend, Steve Rogers. He was two sides of a good coin, both honest and dependable, able to adapt to what the situation called for. He had a compassionate soul, and he liked to look after people, even whiny people who forget to eat and refuse to sleep.

Pepper had loathed having to look after Tony, grown impatient with his inability to look after himself, but Tony knew Steve; he already did it anyway, and he liked taking care of people. Tony could tell it made him feel…needed. Wanted. A man like Steve needed purpose, needed a driving force, and Tony ached to be that.

But Tony was a scientist, and he knew that for every action, there was an equal and opposite reaction; for every scenario this worked out and Steve returned his feelings, that they made a relationship work, there was an equal and opposite scenario where Steve freaked out that his best friend had feelings for him and stopped speaking to him forever and the Avengers disbanded and everything went to hell and it was all Tony's fault.

Yeah, his mind hadn't exactly been a very fun place lately.

True to form, Pepper showed up to interrupt Tony's sulking/avoiding Steve to slap him across the cheek before announcing she would resume her position, kindly accepting his strangled, surprised outcry as an apology.

Unfortunately, this sound had the side effect of helping Steve pick him out of the crowd. While Steve made his way towards them, Pepper kissed his other cheek and whispered into his ear.

"You deserve him just as much as he deserves you, Tony. If he's tells you otherwise, I've got stilettos with his name on them."

With that, she patted his cheek and disappeared into the crowd.

"You weren't kidding," Steve observed, "Let's go to the kitchen, I'll get you some ice."

Tony was about to make up some wild excuse and disappear into the crowd again, when Steve fixed him a look that said he knew exactly what Tony was planning and wasn't going to have it. He fixed a hand around Tony's wrist, tight enough to be immovable, nowhere near enough to hurt, and dragged him through the crowd towards the kitchen.

A few people were milling about, but they were generally ignored as Steve came to a stop in the kitchen, turning to face Tony without letting go of his wrist.

"Tony."

"Steve."

"Did you…were you going to…I was…" Steve stopped and started, eventually running a hand through his hair somewhat aggressively with a sigh, "Are you avoiding me?"

"If I was, it's not working out for me very well right now, is it?"

"I've been trying to talk to you."

"Sorry," Tony apologized sarcastically, "Guess I got tired of watching Loki macking on you all the time. Gee, my bad."

"For goodness' sake, Tony, that's what I've been trying to talk to you about, it was all so stupid, if you'd just let me explain-"

"Oh god," Tony's eyes widened, "I was _kidding. _Christ, I don't want to-I mean, shit, I swear I'm the only sane person around here sometimes-"

"You are the least sane person I know and if you'd just let me talk-"

"-and if that's true then the whole world is fucking doomed, and I don't mean to pry or whatever-"

"Tony, you're not prying, I'm trying to explain-"

"-but I gotta ask because seriously, Steve, what are you even _thinking? _That's so weird and disturbing on so many levels-"

"Tony, I am not-"

"I can not even have this conversation with you right now," Tony blurted, grabbing one of the plates off the counter with his free hand and tossing it at Steve. Steve fell for the distraction, releasing Tony's wrist long enough to catch the projectile and Tony was out the door in a flash.

God, he needed a drink.

* * *

"Okay. Okay, okay, Thor. Dude. The...the thing is, I am, _totally _smashed, and I, I have a lot of questions about things. Bout lightning. Cause you're s'posed t'be god of thunder, yeah? But, see, you use _lightning. _Thor? Thor, Thor I dun get it. I'm a gee-knee-us," Tony drawled, "And I dun get it."

"Uh, excuse me, sir, are you alright?" someone pulled him away from Thor.

"But I have _questionsss,_" Tony whined, drawing out the word in a weird, hissing sort of noise.

"Dude," the guy placed both hands on Tony's shoulder, looking at him seriously, "You know that's a tree, right?"

"Yer, yer dude's a tree," Tony stuttered.

"Hey, uh, Rob? This guy's a total goner," the guy was talking to someone else now, some Rob. They were both in blue, and they both had a nice shiny sticker on their shirts. Huh. Where had Tony seen that sticker before? "Should we throw him in the drunk tank, let him dry out overnight?"

"Jake, man, are you mental? That's Tony Stark," the second guy, an older looking, balding man was walking up, and he slapped the first guy, Jake, who couldn't be more than twenty-something, on the shoulder.

"Seriously?" Jake squinted, "Oh. I kinda see it now. Y'know, he's shorter in person."

"You'd probably recognize him in a three-piece suit," Rob shrugged, "Boxers, not so much. Look at the blue glowball in his chest though, that's his whatcha-call-it, his, uh, reactor thing. This is Mr. Stark, alrigh-whoa, hey, Stark, back in your boxers, man."

"I," Tony slurred, "Am a billionaire. And I have to piss."

"You're a billionaire three seconds from a public nudity arrest," Rob warned.

"I wanna be a billionaire, sooo fucking baaad~" Tony started singing, off-key and way too high-pitched.

"3,"

"Buy, buy those things I never haaad~" Tony wailed.

"2,"

"Holy shit, I'm about to arrest Tony Stark," Jake murmured.

"1. Welcome to New York, kid, consider it initiation," Rob muttered, grabbing Tony by the wrists and pulling him away from the tree, "C'mon, Stark."

"What're you?" Tony slurred, "The tough cop, or somethin'?"

"Sure thing. You know your rights; you have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do can and will be held against you in-"

"Cap'n America!" Tony blurted, stumbling to stay steady.

"What?"

"What?" Tony blinked innocently.

"Tony!"

"Oh my god, is that Captain America?" Jake's eyes went wide in amazement, "Oh my god, that's Captain America! He actually just summoned Captain America!"

"Christ, Jake, keep it in your pants," Rob muttered, then, louder, "Can we help you, Captain Rogers?"

"Steeeeeeve!" Tony cheered gleefully, "Christmas wishes do come true!"

"Sorry about him," Steve jogged up to them, "He wandered off, I've been looking for him for an hour. Is there any way you could release him to me?"

"Yes sure totally have him I love you I mean, uh, um, I mean, I idolize you, not in like a creepy way, just, you're like, my hero, y'know? I joined the force so I could help kick bad guy ass like you and-"

"Alright, that's enough," Rob clapped Jake on the shoulder.

"You want an autograph?" Steve smiled, "It's the least I could do, since you found Tony for me."

"You found meeeee," Tony threw his arms open, about to jump into Steve's arms. Steve looked incredibly alarmed at that, his eyes going wide and his face turning red.

"Tony!" Steve flustered, "Pull your boxers back up!"

"But Steeeeve," Tony whined, "Don't you love me just the way I am?"

"_Boxers," _Steve just ordered sternly, not missing a beat.

"Yeah, he's all yours," Rob snorted, "Have fun with that. Jake, when you're finished oohing and ahhing, meet me back by the squad car."

"Will do," Jake nodded, fishing out his notepad and a pen for Steve to sign it with.

Steve scrawled out a quick signature and returned the pad, while Tony reluctantly pulled his boxers back up. He stumbled, and Steve looped an arm around him.

"Come on, Tony," Steve sighed.

Steve helped Tony stumble for about a block, before he gave up and just lifted Tony into his arms, ignoring the drunken man's protests. Tony babbled for a while, and Steve mostly tuned it out; there was no point in trying to hold a conversation with him right now.

It was almost seven by the time Steve got Tony back, and he made straight for Tony's room. They could talk about everything else later; all Steve wanted right now was for Tony to get to bed, so he might be sober enough to join them for presents at midnight. He'd worked too hard on Tony's present for it to go to waste.

"Oh, Tony," Steve sighed as he pulled the covers up over the man.

"Steve," Tony murmured, "Steve, stay?"

"I should go back, Tony. And you should sleep," Steve said, but even as the words left his mouth, he found himself sitting on the edge of the bed, his fingers tangling in Tony's soft hair.

"Steve, you're so…_good, _you know that? You, you're the only person I can count on, y'know? You're always…always there for me. I don't even know why, I just…I really, I really preciate it. Don't think I ever…ever said that b'fore. And I should've. Should've said it every damn day. I don't deserve it, though, no matter what P'per says. Why would you do that...for me?"

Tony was yawning then, eyes drifting closed as Steve stroked his hair soothingly. The genius was asleep for a very long time before Steve answered.

"Because I love you, you idiot," Steve murmured, brushing back the dark hair framing Tony's face to press a chaste kiss to the man's forehead.

* * *

Warm.

That was Tony's first thought when he woke up, and he moved to stretch out. When he did, however, he abruptly bumped into the source of the warmth. Steve was curled up next him, one arm lying heavy across Tony's chest, his head tucked into Tony's shoulder.

Tony froze, completely unsure of how to react to this.

He tried to draw up memory; arguing with Steve about Loki. Alcohol, and lots of it. Wandering around a while. Asking Thor questions about thunder. Police. Steve. Bed. Okay, so he hadn't drunkenly screwed Steve, at least, which he probably could have gotten from the fact that they were both fully clothed. He had one good thing going for him, then.

If they hadn't done anything, why Steve was currently using Tony as his personal teddy bear, however, was a mystery.

The clock turned 11:50 next to Steve, and the alarm went off. Steve shifted beside him, blearily blinking awake, blue eyes fixing almost immediately on Tony. Steve's reaction was immediate and lightning-fast; he was up and out of the bed in the time it took Tony to blink, and really, that answered any questions Tony might have had about how Steve really felt.

"Kay, so, I'm going to go rejoin the party, and-" Tony moved for the door, but Steve blocked him.

"Tony, I should-"

Oh god, Steve was doing the thing, the thing where he squared his shoulders and locked his jaw, like he was going into battle or something. He had such an earnest, this-needs-to-be-said face, and his eyes hadn't left Tony once. God, he could _not _deal with this right now.

"We should probably just never mention this again-" Tony tried again for the door, and Steve blocked him a bit more forcefully.

This was so not fair. He was still half-drunk from earlier. Maybe. Or maybe he was just half-hungover. Either way this was awful and unfair, and could he maybe climb out the vents?

"Tony, there's something I need to say-"

The vents would be great if he could get in them, Steve was too bulky to follow, but the opening was too damn high and Tony was too damn short. Even if he used the bed make a leap for it, Steve would grab his legs before he made it to safety.

"-to you before we go downstairs."

Steve moved forward, and Tony stepped back. Steve frowned, taking another step forward, and Tony took yet another step back. Wait, wasn't there a window in this room?

"Tony?"

"Steve, really, there's no need, it's all good," Tony assured him, "Talking is totally unnecessary."

He really, _really _did not need to actually hear Steve reject him for Loki. Tony glanced at the window directly behind him now, easily large enough for him to fit through. Well, maybe jumping out the window was a little drastic…

"Tony, we really should talk-"

Nope, totally called for.

Just like that, Tony was spinning around, yanking the window open, and propelling himself out of it. Steve gave a startled yelp and he dove forward, only just narrowly missing Tony as he flew to freedom. Tony grinned in relief, as he pressed the button on his wrist that called the suit to him; that had been close.

There was a crash of glass above, and Tony frowned. That was strange; the suit shouldn't have gone through the glass unless necessary, and the window was totally open-oh. The suit caught up and mechanized around him, and Tony turned in the air to catch the still-free-falling idiot that had jumped out of the window after him.

"Steve!" Tony swooped, catching him and propelling them both back up to the Tower, "What were you thinking?

"_What was _I_ thinking?!" _Steve screamed at him, apparently oblivious to the fact that he had been approximately six seconds from becoming a star spangled pancake, "I was thinking that you _jumped out of a window, _you absolute fucking nutcase!"

"Did you just say fuck? I don't think I've ever heard you say fu-"

"_Why did you just jump out of a window?" _Steve was still screaming blue murder, and Tony was beginning to feel defensive.

"You did too!"

"Christ, I thought you were going to, to-_fuck, _Tony!"

"How would you falling with me help?"

"I don't _know_, I just _did _it!"

"_Why?"_

"Because I love you, you fuck-witted son of a bitch!"

"…okay, I'm going to be honest and tell you that your swearing is totally turning me on right now."

"_Fuck _you!"Steve shouted, "I thought you jumped out of a fucking window to avoid hearing me tell you I loved you!"

"_That's _what you were going to say?"

"_Yes! _And if you had better communication abilities than a walkie-talkie buried in the Arctic Circle without batteries, you would have known that!"

"Are you going to stop insulting me sometime soon?"

"Probably not, you God-damned asshole!"

"Do you really love me?"

"_Yes!"_

"…this is the weirdest night of my life."

"Agreed!" Steve snapped, face red with anger and relief and a million other emotions Tony couldn't begin to decipher. They flew back in through the now empty windowframe Steve had broken through, and Tony released Steve.

Steve, who _loved _him.

"So, um, this is the part where I say it back, right?"

"You know, as much I love you, I really, _really_ hate you sometimes."

"Um," Tony scratched the back of his head, "You really didn't know I had the suit triggered to follow me?"

"No! Why on earth do you have it prepared like that?"

"You underestimate the amount of people who want to throw me out of windows," Tony sighed, "It's a good safety precaution. But…you didn't have a safety precaution. And you jumped."

"Of course I did, you fucking idiot."

"I…" Tony sighed, a twist of pain in his gut, "I've ruined it already, haven't I?"

"What?"

"This. Us," Tony made a vague hand motion, "I've already fucked it up, haven't I? Shit, can't I, I don't know, can't I get one redo? I swear, give me half a chance, and I'll-"

"Tony," Steve looked at him strangely, an almost…amused smirk stretching across his lips, "The only reason I'm not kissing you absolutely senseless right now is because I don't have the slightest idea how to get your helmet off."

"Oh," Tony blinked, "That…that is an easily solvable problem."

* * *

"Okay, not cool," Clint complained, "It's like, 12:30 in the morning. We should have started opening presents a half hour ago."

"We're not opening presents without Steve and Tony," Bruce reminded him for the hundredth time.

"This is ridiculous," Darcy whined, "What if they sleep through the night?"

"Before Steve went up he said he'd set an alarm," Bruce reminded her, "They're probably just talking through a few things."

"God knows they need to," Pepper muttered.

"Merry Christmas, Avengers!" Tony declared just then, waltzing into the room with an invincible grin on his face and an abashed, smiley-looking Steve one step behind him.

Silence greeted them.

"You got fucking laid, didn't you?" Clint accused.

"That," Tony announced, gleefully rubbing his hands together, "Is absolutely none of your business. Are we ready to open presents?"

"I can't even say I'm surprised," Rhodey just sighed.

"Hawkass, you owe me a twenty," Darcy winked at Clint, "See, Steve? I told you making him jealous would work."

"Wait, what?" Tony paused with a frown.

"Uh," Steve flushed, scratching the back of his neck, "Well. They sort of, um, convinced me that you might notice me a bit more if…well, if someone else was."

"I quite enjoyed myself, frankly," Loki hummed in amusement, "The murderous looks you shot me were particularly humorous."

"You pretended to like _Loki _for me?" Tony gaped at Steve.

"I wouldn't say I went that far, I just talked with him a bit more-"

"God, I love you, you sneaky little bastard."

And then they were kissing in the middle of the rec room.

"Alright, alright, we get it, you're together; more importantly, _presents," _Rhodey interjected.

"Sort em out, I'll join you in a sec. I'm starving," Tony waved Rhodey off, breaking the kiss to meander towards the kitchen.

They diverted into groups, bickering while they sorted out presents and Tony rummaged through the fridge for leftovers. Then, he paused.

"Um. Anyone know why my car keys are in the fridge?"

"Earlier I believe you said 'this is going to confuse the fuck out of me tomorrow'," Loki filled him in, "Apparently, drunk you plays pranks on hungover you."

"…this explains so much of my life."

"Come on, Tony," Steve wove his hand into Tony's, tugging him away from the fridge and into the rec room to open presents, "It's Christmas. We can eat after."

"You mean like on a _date?_" Tony gasped in fake surprise. Steve just nudged him in the ribs with a roll of his eyes.

"Eating leftovers at 1 in the morning is hardly a date."

"I hope not," Clint muttered, "Or I'm a slut."

"Don't worry, your sluttery has nothing to do with 1am leftover dates," Darcy assured him, patting his knee.

"So are we gonna open presents, or what?" Jane interjected with a smile to Thor, who returned it eagerly.

"Yes, let the Jultide gift exchanging begin!"

The next half hour flew by in a flurry of wrapping paper, excited shouting, and thankfully only a minimal amount of wrestling.

Steve's gift to Tony was incredible, an intricate, detailed portrait of Tony in his workshop. It highlighted Tony's intelligence and focus, but the edges were soft, worn; loved. The portrait was more than Tony, it was a portrayal of how Steve saw Tony, how he felt about him. It was colored and framed, and Tony couldn't stop looking at it, for more reasons than simple narcissism.

"This…this is how you see me?"

"Yes," Steve said simply, pressing a kiss to Tony's cheek.

Out of nowhere, Clint leaned over and slapped a bow on Tony's forehead and shoved him in Steve's direction.

"Ow, fucker-" Tony complained but was cut off by Clint's loud singing.

"Deck the halls with lots of Stony, fa la la la la, la la la la~!"


End file.
